A History of the Frankfurt Book Fair

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Width:  6  Inches
Height:  9  Inches
Pages:  260
Format:  Hardback
Publication Date:  October 31, 2007
Illustrations:  30 Illustrations, black & white
Publisher:  Dundurn Press

Translated and edited by Carolyn M. Gossage and W.A. Wright

Description

A colourful and revealing look at more than 500 years of commerce conducted at the renowned Frankfurt Book Fair, from its beginnings in the Middle Ages. Even then, in spite of internal strife and religious upheaval, books were becoming increasingly accessible to those who found their way to Frankfurt to buy, sell, and promote. The fact that King Henry VIII sent Sir Thomas Bodley as his personal emissary to purchase books for the new library at Oxford University is an indication of the Fair‘s growing importance outside Germany.

Through the ensuing centuries, the fortunes of the Fair waxed and waned; however, the period following the Second World War brought with it a new spirit of renewal that has yet to lose momentum. In recent years, increasing number of international book fairs have taken the Frankfurt model, and each is finding its own way to further enrich the world of books everywhere.

Author

Peter Weidhaas served as Director of the Frankfurt Book Fair from 1975 to the new millenium and was ideally positioned to view the last quarter of the twentieth century at the Fair from the inside out.

Carolyn Gossage is the author/editor of eight non-fiction publications on diverse subjects including education, women's studies and art history. Her family ties to Germany extend back to Johann Ludwig Schmidt, a Lutheran pastor who may well have attended the Frankfurt Book Fair in the seventeenth century.

Wendy Wright has over 30 years‘ experiencing teaching and administering German programs in Toronto. With degrees from Canada, U.S., France, Germany, and Austria, she has taught on three continents and published widely.

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